US scientists to protest Trump policies at Earth Day rally in Washington

WASHINGTON — US scientists are set to stage an unprecedented protest on Saturday, a March for Science provoked by steep cuts President Donald Trump has proposed for science and research budgets, and growing disregard for evidence-based knowledge.

The march in Washington, timed to coincide with the Earth Day environmental event, will put Trump's questioning of climate change and proposed cuts to federal science programs at center stage.

Demonstrations are also scheduled in US cities including San Francisco, along with smaller towns like Dillingham, Alaska. Overseas, people are due to rally in support of science from Australia to Brazil.

Participants say the Washington march will be nonpartisan and marks a new frontier for scientists more accustomed to laboratories and classrooms than activism in the streets.

"It has dawned on some of them it is time to speak up," Rush Holt, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, told reporters on a conference call this week. "I wouldn't say that it is fundamentally because of Donald Trump, but there's no question that there's been concern in recent months about all sorts of things."

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump has called climate change a hoax. His administration is mulling withdrawing from the so-called Paris Agreement aimed at reducing global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Trump's proposed 2018 budget calls for deep spending cuts by government science agencies, including a 31% reduction for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Rally organizers are also worried by what they see as growing skepticism from politicians and others on topics such as vaccinations, genetically modified organisms and evolution.

"It's really the age-old debate of the rational view of the universe against the irrational view of the universe," Elias Zerhouni, former director of the National Institutes of Health, said on the conference call.

Guests at the Washington event will include television personality Bill Nye "the Science Guy," former White House technology aide Megan Smith and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician who helped expose the lead water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

But some questioned whether scientists should play a political role, and whether the march would change the minds of Trump, his top aides, or skeptical voters.

"We need to go to county fairs, and we need to personalize the scientific issues we care about," said geologist Rob Young, a professor at North Carolina's Western Carolina University.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Asian shares wobble, dollar on track for losing week

TOKYO - Asian shares dipped on Friday but remained on track for weekly gains while the dollar was poised for a losing week, as investors weighed whether President-elect Donald Trump would stress growth-boosting steps when he takes office.

On Wall Street, major indexes finished lower a day after Trump failed to elaborate on his economic stimulus plans in his first news conference since his Nov. 8 election victory.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent, after rising to its highest levels since late October in the previous session. It was up 1.8 percent for the week.

Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 0.4 percent, on track to shed 1.2 percent for the week.

Many investors remained hopeful that markets will get a lift from a wave of financial deregulation that could follow Trump's inauguration, including a rollback of some of the Dodd-Frank financial reform that Congress enacted after the financial crisis and bank bailouts.

"Market weakness at the end of the week may continue, but anticipation of a Dodd-Frank repeal possibility spurs an optimistic outlook," said Hiroki Allen, chief representative of Superfund Japan in Tokyo.

But this week's stronger yen also dented demand for Japanese shares. The dollar edged up 0.1 percent to 114.86 yen after skidding as low as 113.75 on Thursday, its lowest since Dec. 8. It was on track to shed 1.8 percent for the week.

The dollar wallowed around five week lows against a currency basket, even as the dollar index edged up 0.2 percent to 101.52. It was down 0.7 percent for the week.

The dollar index scaled 14-year peaks this month, on speculation that Trump's policies would spur growth and inflation, and prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a faster pace than previously expected.

The euro was steady at $1.0612, well above last week's 14-year low of $1.0340 and poised to gain 0.7 percent for the week.

Crude oil prices extended gains, bolstered by the weaker dollar as well as news that Saudi Arabia has cut oil output to its lowest in almost two years and plans further reductions.

Brent crude was trading 1.8 percent at $56.11 a barrel, while US crude was up slightly at $53.03.

Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,194.90 an ounce, after it surged to seven-week highs above $1,200.

source: news.abs-cbn.com